Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Night of the Living Bread (Sugar & Spice Mysteries) by Mary Lee Ashford. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Night of the Living Bread (Sugar & Spice Mysteries)
by Mary Lee Ashford
Night of the Living Bread (Sugar & Spice Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Setting – Iowa
Publisher : Oliver Heber Books (May 27, 2025)
Print length : 223 pages
Sugar Calloway and Dixie Spicer are up to their aprons in community cookbook projects, but Sugar can’t resist when the Jameson County Historical Society asks for their assistance with a cookbook featuring bread recipes. But they’ve barely begun when suddenly troubles are on the rise. Marla, the board’s president is stabbed with a bread knife, her best friend, Mame, is a suspect & some dough (of the money kind) is missing.
As Sugar and Dixie try to save the cookbook project and help Mame, things take a twist with a second body. But what’s the connection? And who in St. Ignatius has been keeping secrets? And, mostly importantly, will Sugar and Dixie be able to figure out whodunnit before the killer catches up with them and they are toast.
Author Guest Post
Night of the Living Bread, Cozies, & Sneaky Pets
by Mary Lee Ashford
Christy, thanks for letting me stop by today. I love your blog and the creative challenges! Thank you!
Now about those pets… I think most of you know that in addition to the Sugar & Spice Mysteries as Mary Lee Ashford, I also co-write the Pampered Pets Mysteries as Sparkle Abbey. But if you didn’t, now you know…
And pets, always a good topic, right? But what does a culinary cozy mystery have to do with pets? Well, sometimes those pets just sneak into the story.
For me, the writing process and any story idea always starts with the characters and I loved writing about pet therapist, Caro Lamont in Desperate Housedogs and the rest of that series. And so, when the idea for Game of Scones, the first book in the Sugar & Spice series was born, it was Rosetta Sugarbaker Calloway, on the run from her southern mother and determined aunts who thought it was time she got married, who came to me first.
Sugar had just been downsized out of her dream job and when she partnered with blue-ribbon baker Dixie Spicer to create Sugar & Spice Community Cookbooks, she landed in St. Ignatius, Iowa. It’s a classic small town with quirky shops, a beautiful town square, tree-lined streets, and older homes with wide front porches. Sugar was lucky enough to rent a beautiful Queen Anne home and when she moved in, Ernest, a six-toned tabby, also moved in. She didn’t plan on having a cat but…now she does. Ernest just seemed like a natural fit for her new life.
There are other pets as well. Sugar’s business partner Dixie has an adorable mixed breed rescue dog, Moto. And Frenchie, a poodle, plays a big part in the third book, Quiche of Death. You see how those pets just sort of sneak in? And in my opinion, they are not just there for fun. There are several good reasons authors include furry friends in their books.
First off, just like in real life, whether someone has a pet or not tells us a lot about them. If they don’t, why not? Maybe they wish they could, but live somewhere that doesn’t allow pets. Perhaps they’ve had a bad experience.
If they do have a pet, how they came to have their pet tells us even more. Was it a search for just the right cat or dog? Were they set on a particular breed? Or are they, like me, an adopter of strays and a supporter of animal rescue shelters? Maybe, like Sugar, their pet adopted them. Neither approach is right or wrong but does some light on a character’s background and how they think.
And how about the other characters in the book? In Risky Biscuits, Ernest has opinions about certain people and makes them known – as only a feline with cattitude can do.
And finally, the main reason I think pets play a role in so many cozy mysteries is that just like in real life – they comfort us, entertain us, and stick with us through whatever’s going on in our lives.
And though my books are cozies, I’d have to say that Sugar and Dixie have an awful lot going on. I hope you’ll check out book four, Night of the Living Bread, where Sugar and Dixie are about to embark on a new project, a cookbook with bread recipes for the local historical society. But they’ve barely begun when suddenly troubles are on the rise. Marla, the board’s president is stabbed with a bread knife, her best friend, Mame, is a suspect and some dough (of the money kind) is missing. As Sugar and Dixie try to save the cookbook project and help Mame, things are sure to get dicey and… well, sometimes you just need your pet and a night off to shift through the clues.
About Mary Lee Ashford
Mary Lee Ashford is a national best-selling author, a lifelong bibliophile, an avid reader, and a supporter of public libraries. In addition to writing the Sugar & Spice series for Oliver Heber Books, she also writes the Pampered Pets mystery series as half of the writing team of Sparkle Abbey. Prior to publishing, Mary Lee won first place in the Daphne du Maurier contest and was a finalist in Murder in the Grove’s mystery contest and Killer Nashville’s Claymore Dagger contest.
She is the founding president of Sisters in Crime – Iowa and a former board member of the Mystery Writers of America Midwest chapter, as well as a member of Novelists, Inc., and Sisters in Crime Guppies.
She loves encouraging writers and is a frequent lecturer and workshop presenter for writers’ groups. Mary Lee has a long-time interest in creativity and teaches a university-level course on creative management. She also presents workshops and blogs about creativity and the writing craft.
She currently resides in the Midwest with her husband, Tim, and Zoey, her feline coworker. When she’s not writing, her passions are reading, travel, and time with her family, especially her six grandchildren.
Author Links
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/maryleeashford1
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/mary-lee-ashford
Threads – https://www.threads.net/@authormaryleeashford
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/authormaryleeashford/
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17806883.Mary_Lee_Ashford
- Purchase Links
Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Kobo
Book 1 – Game of Scones is FREE now and through this tour.
Enter the Giveaway
Night of the Living Bread TOUR PARTICIPANTS
May 27 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
May 27 – Carstairs Considers – REVIEW
May 28 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
May 28 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 29 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
May 30 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
May 31 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – RECIPE POST
May 31 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 1 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
June 2 – Frugal Freelancer – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 3 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 3 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
June 4 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
June 5 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 6 – Reading Is My SuperPower – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 7 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW
June 8 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 9 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
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Sounds like a book I will enjoy reading.
Thanks for letting me stop by, Christy!
Thanks for stopping!